224 
THE RURAL fjEW-YORKER 
6 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Practical Departments: 
Ant-Kater, The Tamandim. 217 
Kxprriinent* li> Farming, Two. 217 
Thonirtiu from u Farm... 
Krlottet*. 218 
Green Fruit Henson of 1877.218 
Shrubbery Ornamental. "Ill 
Beeell and lt« Varieties, The Purple.. 2I'.I 
Note* from (be Garden... 2111 
Hitcher. Garden. A Woman's Iileuof u. 210 
Garden llnooputlpn. 210 
Gardening Pen-Talk*... .••• 22ii 
Oornssnundein** I.otters. tCxtracts from. 22J] 
Spanish Most* us a Window Plant.. 220 
Cata hurtles, *e.. Received. 220 
N. y. Ilmilenltnral Society'* Exhibition at till- 
more's Garden... 220 
Stale Pair. Now York . 220 
Some Talk nhoitt KnglWi Provincial Cuttle 
Markets. . .... —.22] 
Kuril I Special Reports. 22] 
Kee Keeping Huccessful ........... 
Good Bread. The Art of Making...., 
. 221 
. 222 
. 227 
Answer* to Correspondents. 
Butter, Preserving. ... 
flow* In the south. Management of. 
1 Poultry In Keep, nest Kind of. 
.. m 
. 273 
. m 
. 223 
* Fanner’s Opinion. A. 
(EDITORIAL PAGE! 
. 223 
. 224 
Walking Horses.. 
.224 
Literary : 
.225.227. 225 
. 225 
Cure of the Hands, The..... 
Ladies’ Portfolio. 
Rending for the Young. 
Pussier.... ... 
Sabhnth Reading... 
. 22H 
Publisher’* Notices. 
New* of the Week. 
Personals...... 
. 230 
11 timorous ... 
1 Advertisements.. 
..... '2>l2 
".223. 22'), 231, 232 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1877. 
TO OUR FRIENDS. 
Tue past summer, distinct Beedliugs of our 
own and other plants of merit in the Rural 
Grounds have been propagated with the view 
of accumulating a stock large enough to enable 
us to distribute them without charge among our 
subscribers. We have also saved seeds of a 
number of desirable and easily cultivated plants 
for free distribution before the first of January 
of this year. The names of the several varieties 
of seeds will be announced in our issue of Nov. 
10 . 
It will occur to our readers that the cost of 
carrying out such a project is considerable. Wc 
have counted this cost, however, and only hope 
that our friends will avail themselves of our 
offer as freely as it is made. 
As wc have several times before had occasion 
to state, we beg again to remark that we shall 
not sell seeds or plants in the future, as we 
have never sold them in the past, under any 
circumstances whatever. 
SAYINGS BANKS. 
That habits of thrift and frugality 
should be widely disseminated among 
the people is of advantage, not only to 
those who practice these virtues, but also 
to society at large ; for to increase fore¬ 
sight. and economy among any community 
is to diminish the amount of intemper¬ 
ance, pauperism, crime, and consequent 
taxation. One of the best means of pro¬ 
moting these virtues is the establishment 
of trustworthy well-managed savings 
banks. In these all classes can place 
small sums they have no immediate need 
of, with the pleasant consciousness that 
their deposit is not only absolutely safe 
but also earning interest until they want 
to use it. A nest-egg of this kind once 
secured, a natural desire to increase it, 
by dispensing with many little super¬ 
fluities, and avoiding all forms of extrava¬ 
gance, grows with its amount. Improvi¬ 
dence and wastefulness, the great banes 
of the laboring classes, are in this way 
diminished, and habits of abstinence 
and forecast ere long established. 
To destroy public confidence therefore 
in these saving institutions lias a deplor¬ 
ably demoralizing eflcct, the pernicious 
influences of which extend beyond the 
pecuniary losses incurred by the deposi¬ 
tors, disastrous as these too frequently 
are. For with the loss of these hard- 
earned savings come remembrances of 
many pleasant indulgences they might 
have afforded to those who made them, 
if these had spent them on their own 
gratification insteud of entrusting them 
to others to be stolen or squandered. 
Habits of economy and foresight are in 
this way prevented or destroyed, not 
only among those who have suffered 
from the collapse of such institutions, 
but also among others who have witnessed 
the futile results of the practice of these 
virtues by their neighbors. 
Accordingly, the numerous disgraceful 
disclosures of recklessness and dishonesty 
in the management of savings banks, 
that have recently been made in nearly 
every State in the Union, call loudly, 
either for a change in the nature of these 
institutions or or me passage and rigid 
enforcement of such stringent laws aB 
shall prevent a recurrence of such demor¬ 
alizing disasters, if the present system 
is suffered to continue, not only should a 
strict, official supervision be established 
over the management of these deposi¬ 
tories of the savings of the poor, but con¬ 
dign punishment should in all cases of 
misconduct, be unstintedly meted out to 
those among their officers, whose careless¬ 
ness or dishonesty has brought suffer¬ 
ing, privation and discouragement upon 
those who have entrusted their hard- 
earned hoards to their guardianship. At 
present, gross mismanagement, pecula¬ 
tion and even flagrant swindling among 
this class, after the first outburst of in¬ 
dignant surprise on their detection, are 
treated both by the laws and public 
opinion with a leniency that tends to eu- 
couragf; dishonesty among those in office, 
to discourage investment and consequent 
economy among the masses, and to in¬ 
flict a serious injury on public morals. 
In view of the frequent abuses of the 
present system, however, and the difficulty 
of reforming it,, it is urged iu many 
quarters that the best remedy for its 
evils, would be the substitution of postal 
savings banks under governmental con¬ 
trol. This system would afford absolute 
security to the depositors, and thus 
stimulate them to provident economy, 
the chief purposes for which saving insti¬ 
tutions are organized. It, has proved 
eminently successful in England, where 
instead of entailing any expense on the 
Government, it is a profitable source of 
income. It has been introduced from 
Great Britain into Canada, and there 
also gives general satisfaction. In this 
country it is as constitutional as the 
postal money order system, which is 
indeed a modification of it. lu one case 
the government receives money, guaran¬ 
tees its safety and pays it out at a distant 
place; in the (fiber it would receive 
money, guarantee its safety and pay it 
out at the same place. The only possible 
objection that can reasonably be urged 
against its adoption, is a doubt whether 
the civil service of the cunutry is iu such 
a pure aud efficient, state us to justify the 
investment iu its hands of so large an 
amount of the savings of the people. 
But this is a question for the considera¬ 
tion of the government, since in the 
event of a possible defalcation of any of 
its officers, it would be the loser, not the 
depositors who had trusted it. In any 
event, public interests and morality 
urgently demand either a speedy reforma¬ 
tion of the present system or the substi¬ 
tution of another. 
WALKING HORSES. 
If we were looking for a pair of work¬ 
horses or a pair of oxen, one of the first 
things we should inquire about, would be 
their speed—not how fast they could run 
or trot, but bow fast could they walk. 
There lias been, of late years, great atten¬ 
tion paid to the breeding of horses for 
speed. A few years ago 2.40 for u trotter 
■was thought excellent time. It took but 
a little judicious training to bring the time 
into the twenties, and when it was an¬ 
nounced that Dexter had trotted a mile in 
2.17],, a great many shook their heads 
donbtingly, and wondered if the time was 
correctly taken, and if so, whether the 
track was not a little short,. That was 
some years ago. Since that time, seconds 
have dropped oil’ one after another, un¬ 
til “ Goldsmith Maid ” (lid her mile in 
t he iiDprcoedeutodly small time of 2.14. 
Whether a horse will ever trot a mile 
more quickly, remains to be seen. Thou¬ 
sands of dollars and years of time have 
been expended in accomplishing this re¬ 
sult ; and after all, what does it amount 
to—wliat great good has been accom¬ 
plished ? 
If it is merely a question of how quickly 
a certain apace can be overcome, horses 
can run the distance in much less time. 
So can a (jog—so cau a locomotive. A 
swallow or a pigeon can do it iu half the 
time ; and if it comes to a question of five, 
ten, or fifty miles, the fast trotters would 
not undertake it. 
We do not propose to consider, at pres¬ 
ent, the question if the increase of speed 
in trotting horses is worth what it costs 
in t ime, money and inorals, aud have only 
mentioned it in connection with this other 
question : How can the speed of our work¬ 
ing horses be improved ? * 
We suppose the average rate of speed 
at which horses walk, will not exceed three 
miles an hour. It is evident, thou, if 
tlnscan be increased to four miles an hour, 
just one-third more work can be accom¬ 
plished by a pair of horses in the same 
time ; and this will hold good whether 
they are plowing, mowing, or drawing a 
load on the road ; and for a driving team 
this increase of walking speed is worthy 
of attention. Many a good trotter, when 
pulled up at the foot of a hill or else¬ 
where, fulI h into a pace that would do dis¬ 
credit to a snail of ordinary ambition, 
]f a horse were possessed of fair reason¬ 
ing ability, he would see the advantage 
to himself of walking with quicker and 
longer steps. He would be allowed to 
walk many a mile where he is now ob¬ 
liged to trot, and would get over just as 
many miles in a day with more pleasure, 
ease aud comfort to his driver, aa well as 
to himself. But if he cannot be reasoned 
with, shall he not be otherwise instructed 
or (rained, to use the word of Solomon ? 
What is to prevent ? 
"Wliat we have said of working horses, 
applies with the same force tu uxen. There 
are many sections where the Rural cir¬ 
culates in which oxen are but little used 
or, if at all, not as roadsters. But in other 
sections where they are in common and 
constaut use not only iu the field but on 
the road, and where the comparison, “ as 
slow as au ox team," is often heard, it will 
be readily admitted that rnoro xpc.cd in 
an ox is a desirable quality. 
We suppose the lists of prizes for our 
agricultural fairs yet to be held this 
fall, are fully completed; otherwise we 
should suggest, to the gentlemen of the 
committee that it might be a novel and 
attractive feature to introduce walking 
matches of both horses and oxen. It 
eould be done with very little troublo aud 
expense, und we believe it would be a 
step in the right direction. 
Who will be the first to introduce Walk¬ 
ing Matches ? 
■ ■ ■ ■ «♦♦♦- - 
NOTES. 
Cupressus Lawsonianu.—We are 
asked by a correspondent if the Law- 
son’s Gyress or any of its many varieties 
is hardy in Jamaica, a small city of Long 
Island V We regret, to say it is not—as it 
is in all other respects, one of the most 
desirable of evergreens. It makes a 
rapid growth—its color is n lovely, bluish- 
green ; its form conical without. HtilTuess. 
It combines the feathery beauty of the 
Betinosporas with the airy grace of our 
Hemlocks. Indeed, tin’s Cyrees is so 
captivating that, seeing it for the first 
time, one is tempted to secure a specimen 
iu the hopes that a protected position and 
extra card will preserve it unharmed 
through our winters. But our own ex¬ 
perience is that it cannot endure the 
climate of New York. Though named 
Lawson’s after the English nurserymen 
of that name, it is a native of Northern 
California, growing in the valleys aud 
at taining a high! of seventy feet or more. 
Many varieties have been secured from 
seeds, several of them variegated with 
silver aud golden colors. But, so far as 
we are aware, the varieties are no hardier 
than the species. Among evergreens 
that are hardy, perhaps Ketinospora 
pisifera more closely resembles the Law¬ 
son’s Cypress in general appearance than 
any other. 
-- 
A Slight Mistake.—The improve¬ 
ment of stock has frequently been urged 
in these pages, but never according to 
tlic novel idea of old Mr. Cokngob. 
Having read that a bull painted by Bos a 
Bonjikuu, the celebrated artist, had been 
sold lor $ 5 , 000 , he remarked thought¬ 
fully to his wife that he didn’t see how a 
coat of paint could so greatly enhance 
the value of the animal; but if Bosa 
didn’t charge more’n $10, why he’d let 
her paint his old bull agin’ fair day. 
Whereupon his wife economically re¬ 
marked that he might paint it himself 
and thus save his money. Should any 
of our readers see a paint-bedaubed bull 
at one of the fairs held about this time, 
he cau readily recognize iu its stooping, 
gray-haired owner the wrinkled visage of 
old Mr. Corncob. 
The Fall of the Leaf.—This is not 
due, as some suppose, to the advent of 
frost, for Nature has provided for its fall 
just as well ns for its development. A 
distinct line of separation is early visible, 
and before it drops, the wound which 
would otherwise be left, ib providently 
covered with a prolongation of the epidor- 
mis of the stem. Leaves which full at 
the close of the season are deciduous, 
those of the evergreens, persistent. Iu 
some of the evergreen coniferous trees 
the leaves of the former year fall as soon 
as those of the present year are developed, 
while they adorn Borne firs for teu or 
twelve years before they flutter to the 
ground. 
-- +■*■*■ — 
BREVITIES. 
Savings Banks need to chauge their names. 
Tue secret of Strawberry culture is rich 
ground and plenty of water. 
Pickles are selling medium size, 40 cents per 
hundred ; small, 50 cents per hundred. 
We were glad to see Mr. Jah. Vick, Jr., of 
Rochester, and Mr. Samuel Tavlor of Dayton, 
Ohio, who during a week’s visit to this city, fa¬ 
vored us with a call. 
The results of our cucumber experiments this 
season, may bo summed up in a very few words. 
Wo choose Tailby's Hybrid for cucumbers and 
Green Prolific for pickles. 
Thf, remarks of Mr. F. K. Phoenix, iu our ad¬ 
vertising columns, are worthy of being studied 
by those intending to plant trees. It is the 
whole story told in a few words. 
Qua readers are notified that the advertise¬ 
ment of The Great Western Gnu Works, Pitts¬ 
burg, Pa., which appears iu our columns, is the 
announcement of a responsible firm, and should 
not be confounded with, or mistaken for au un¬ 
trustworthy affair in Chicago, known as the 
Western Gun Works. 
We noticed this morning (September 22) a 
plot, twenty-five feet square perhaps, of tobacco 
plants growing in pure muck. It was along the 
meadows of the Hackensack, live miles above 
the Eric Railroad. The water at that placo is 
not salt, but brackish. The plants were live 
feet high, in full bloom, tho leaves healthy and 
entire. 
Uuon the fruit-stands of New York City, wo 
judge from inquiries that three Socket pears are 
sold to one of any other variety during their sea¬ 
son. Speaking for ourselves, if wo eould have 
but one variety, theHeckel would be our choice ; 
aud herein the Metropolitan New-Yorker is iu 
accord with the Rural New-Yorker, a circum¬ 
stance of which he should feel proud. 
Thk Manner or Aim-lying Manure contri¬ 
butes largely towards its clhoiency. That chicfiy 
from the droppings of animals should he ap¬ 
plied as soon as practicable ; that from straw and 
ether fibrous matter should be first well rotted , 
if applied at, or just below the surface, its effects 
are best for straw crops ; but it is well to bury 
it somewhat deeper for hoed crops, especially for 
corn. 
Analyses of leaves and wood show that, of 
earthy matter, or ashes, tho mature foliage of 
tta elm contains 11 per coot; the solid wood lets 
than 2 : the leaves of the willow more than 8 
per cent., its wood only U.44 ; those of the beech 
6.67 per cent., tho wood only 0,35 ; those of tho 
European oak 4 06 per oeut., the wood only 0.22 ; 
those of the pitch pine 3.18 per cent, the wood 
only 0.27. 
We sometimes think that people who idly 
lounge through railroad cars in search of a 
ohoice seat, never have the least idea that there 
may be other passengers behind them who, for 
one reason or another, moy be in a hurry. Well, 
where obliviousness is bliss, it nay be folly to 
bo awake to the convenience of others. Never¬ 
theless, we have wished to wuko up such strag¬ 
glers at odd times with a hearty kick! 
A new use for ‘‘ Puswre” has been hit upon 
by the Poultry World, which recommends it for 
chicken feed. Cut up and mixed with scalded 
meal, it is said to he ono of the best of green 
feeds, especially for young chickens. A qualm¬ 
ish stomach might object to its use as a salad, 
though one of our “ hriefiets” lately told 
how esteemed it was in that character in Eu¬ 
rope. But all will agree that there can be no ob¬ 
jection to it as a fool (fowl ) food. 
